Latest reviews for Restaurants in East Dulwich, London, United Kingdom

The Sea Cow - Cash Cow by FoodStories

FoodStories — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:22:11 +0000

Review by FoodStories

Rating: 2.00

Phone: 020 8693 3111

Website: http://www.theseacow.co.uk/

Tags: lively, british, family & home feel

I was so excited about visiting The Sea Cow after hearing so many good reports from others. This is a â¬Üposhâ¬" fish and chip shop. By this I mean you can eat in, seated in the pleasing modern and minimal surroundings, you can choose your own fish fillet at the wet fish counter, you can drink wine with your meal and you will be charged around 4 times as much for the privilege. Now all this would be wonderful if the food were any good, but it isnâ¬"t, at least it wasn't when we visited.

Having said that, our whitebait starter (which we shared) was nice; crispy and meaty. We were disappointed to find the tartare sauce to be shop bought, but gobbled everything down hungrily anyway. The main courses were so disappointing though. I had crab cakes, which were patties of reddish-brown mush in which I couldnâ¬"t identify any individual flavours; certainly not crab. They had then been deep fried until just this side of burnt. My partner opted for haddock and chips but the chips were soggy and limp and the haddock left a pool (yes, a pool) of grease on the plate. This came with mushy peas, described as â¬Üfreshly mintedâ¬" and they were â¬ someone had added some mint to a tin of mushy peas! To top it all, the waitress took our entire order while gazing absent-mindedly out of the window. I really, really havenâ¬"t enjoyed writing this but I felt it necessary to make sure we share the bad as well as the good. Maybe we went on a â¬Übad dayâ¬" â¬ it is possible I suppose, although the place was half empty on a Saturday lunchtimeâ¬¦I was so excited about visiting The Sea Cow after hearing so many good reports from others. This is a â¬Üposhâ¬" fish and chip shop. By this I mean you can eat in, seated in the pleasing modern and minimal surroundings, you can choose your own fish fillet at the wet fish counter, you can drink wine with your meal and you will be charged around 4 times as much for the privilege. Now all this would be wonderful if the food were any good, but it isnâ¬"t, at least it wasn't when we visited.

Having said that, our whitebait starter (which we shared) was nice; crispy and meaty. We were disappointed to find the tartare sauce to be shop bought, but gobbled everything down hungrily anyway. The main courses were so disappointing though. I had crab cakes, which were patties of reddish-brown mush in which I couldnâ¬"t identify any individual flavours; certainly not crab. They had then been deep fried until just this side of burnt. My partner opted for haddock and chips but the chips were soggy and limp and the haddock left a pool (yes, a pool) of grease on the plate. This came with mushy peas, described as â¬Üfreshly mintedâ¬" and they were â¬ someone had added some mint to a tin of mushy peas! To top it all, the waitress took our entire order while gazing absent-mindedly out of the window. I really, really havenâ¬"t enjoyed writing this but I felt it necessary to make sure we share the bad as well as the good. Maybe we went on a â¬Übad dayâ¬" â¬ it is possible I suppose, although the place was half empty on a Saturday lunchtimeâ¬¦

Barcelona Tapas Bar & Restaurant - Barcelona This Is Not by Litro_K

Litro_K — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:53:57 +0000

Review by Litro_K

Rating: 2.00

Phone: 020 8693 5111

Website: http://www.barcelona-tapas.com

Tags: spanish, toptable

On the last night of the (sadly missed) hot weather this week, I had a sudden craving when I got home from work and stared feebly at the cooker. It came to me as a vague memory of being in a hot land, once, before I moved to England, and eating something lovely outside, watching the sunset. Ah! Tapas, I thought. Little morsels of deliciousness. Easy on the waistline. Fun to share. Easy on the wallet. All washed down with a nice cold cerveza, I thought. Que bueno.

A quick flick through my Time Out Cheap Eats guide found our nearest tapas bar, Barcelona. It said they did a good Sunday buffet, but I figured we wouldn't have much, and we could just check it out for the next time we felt like a Sunday all-you-can-eat tapas buffet. (!) So off we went on the bus.

The first disappointing thing I noticed was that the bar had some great big red umbrellas, which would have been a nice place to sit and watch the sun go down, but that they were awfully close to the main road (the upper end of Lordship Lane is not that attractive). Then we got inside, and although the decor was cute and the tables well-spaced, the place was empty, bar two sullen-looking couples who looked like they wished they'd turned around and gone home.

I kind of wished we had, too. But a strange politeness comes over me in restaurants. I watched as the podgy elderly Spanish gentleman waiter came to greet us. He looked so excited! So happy! He had customers! So we sat, and looked through the vast (seemingly authentic) menu. There was lots of offal on offer. Mmm.

In the end, we lazily decided to order the set tapas menu at Â£10.99 per person. It included albondigas, chorizo, patatas bravas, chipirones, champignones and bread. We had some olives on the side and a 100ml bottle of Mahou. Nothing was outstanding. The chorizo was oily and tough, the squids also tough and nearly inedible.

We paid Â£35 for this delightful evening (the restaurant empied very soon after we arrived). I really, really wanted to like it there. I wanted to like the podgy waiter, who smiled sweetly at us as we stumbled over ordering in Spanish. I even tried to imagine his history asked him where he was from, tried to imagine how a man from Galicia ended up in this sorry place in Dulwich. I tried, really I did.

Next time, I'm going to Brindisa.On the last night of the (sadly missed) hot weather this week, I had a sudden craving when I got home from work and stared feebly at the cooker. It came to me as a vague memory of being in a hot land, once, before I moved to England, and eating something lovely outside, watching the sunset. Ah! Tapas, I thought. Little morsels of deliciousness. Easy on the waistline. Fun to share. Easy on the wallet. All washed down with a nice cold cerveza, I thought. Que bueno.

A quick flick through my Time Out Cheap Eats guide found our nearest tapas bar, Barcelona. It said they did a good Sunday buffet, but I figured we wouldn't have much, and we could just check it out for the next time we felt like a Sunday all-you-can-eat tapas buffet. (!) So off we went on the bus.

The first disappointing thing I noticed was that the bar had some great big red umbrellas, which would have been a nice place to sit and watch the sun go down, but that they were awfully close to the main road (the upper end of Lordship Lane is not that attractive). Then we got inside, and although the decor was cute and the tables well-spaced, the place was empty, bar two sullen-looking couples who looked like they wished they'd turned around and gone home.

I kind of wished we had, too. But a strange politeness comes over me in restaurants. I watched as the podgy elderly Spanish gentleman waiter came to greet us. He looked so excited! So happy! He had customers! So we sat, and looked through the vast (seemingly authentic) menu. There was lots of offal on offer. Mmm.

In the end, we lazily decided to order the set tapas menu at Â£10.99 per person. It included albondigas, chorizo, patatas bravas, chipirones, champignones and bread. We had some olives on the side and a 100ml bottle of Mahou. Nothing was outstanding. The chorizo was oily and tough, the squids also tough and nearly inedible.

We paid Â£35 for this delightful evening (the restaurant empied very soon after we arrived). I really, really wanted to like it there. I wanted to like the podgy waiter, who smiled sweetly at us as we stumbled over ordering in Spanish. I even tried to imagine his history asked him where he was from, tried to imagine how a man from Galicia ended up in this sorry place in Dulwich. I tried, really I did.

Next time, I'm going to Brindisa.

Locale - East Dulwich's First Great Italian by Litro_K

Litro_K — Sun, 04 May 2008 21:34:12 +0000

Review by Litro_K

Rating: 5.00

Phone: 020 7732 7575

Website: http://www.localerestaurants.com

Tags: italian, family & home feel

I can never resist a brand spanking new restaurant, especially when it's right up my street (literally, in this case). When we first noticed this was opening, we applied to visit on one of their '50 % off training days' - they open properly in the next few weeks.

Having just returned from a leisurely and varied (not to mention half-price) lunch there, I think this stylish Italian venture will do very well, occupying a leafy corner plot with an attractive terrace next to Goose Green. Although we expected minor hiccups on their training day, we were greeted enthusiastically by the manager who explained that their credit card machine hadn't arrived and so it would be payment by cash only. This might have been an annoyance were it not for his charming manner and the good fortune that there's a cashpoint just outside.

Once seated, the Italian waiting staff were polite, well-informed, and efficient. The menu is surprisingly authentic for a chain restaurant and pleased my pseudo-Italian boyfriend no end, who recounts the food he ate whilst living in Bologna at every opportunity. So with the half-price offer, we feasted: olives and focaccia, insalata caprese with rich, creamy mozzarella, then gramigna alla salsiccia (the pseudo-Italian nearly wept when he saw this; a traditional dish not often seen on menus in the UK) and filetto di manzo, a huge knuckle of Argentinian steak with a peppercorn sauce, cooked to perfection. We were stuffed, but made room for an affogato for dessert - delicious cinnamon ice cream with espresso and frangelica poured over the top.

Upon settling the bill, we were asked to fill in a comments card: proof that they will continue to be very customer-oriented and well-managed. We rolled out of there, happily, wishing we had a longer walk home to digest it all, but really pleased that this is now our nearest excellent restaurant. I can never resist a brand spanking new restaurant, especially when it's right up my street (literally, in this case). When we first noticed this was opening, we applied to visit on one of their '50 % off training days' - they open properly in the next few weeks.

Having just returned from a leisurely and varied (not to mention half-price) lunch there, I think this stylish Italian venture will do very well, occupying a leafy corner plot with an attractive terrace next to Goose Green. Although we expected minor hiccups on their training day, we were greeted enthusiastically by the manager who explained that their credit card machine hadn't arrived and so it would be payment by cash only. This might have been an annoyance were it not for his charming manner and the good fortune that there's a cashpoint just outside.

Once seated, the Italian waiting staff were polite, well-informed, and efficient. The menu is surprisingly authentic for a chain restaurant and pleased my pseudo-Italian boyfriend no end, who recounts the food he ate whilst living in Bologna at every opportunity. So with the half-price offer, we feasted: olives and focaccia, insalata caprese with rich, creamy mozzarella, then gramigna alla salsiccia (the pseudo-Italian nearly wept when he saw this; a traditional dish not often seen on menus in the UK) and filetto di manzo, a huge knuckle of Argentinian steak with a peppercorn sauce, cooked to perfection. We were stuffed, but made room for an affogato for dessert - delicious cinnamon ice cream with espresso and frangelica poured over the top.

Upon settling the bill, we were asked to fill in a comments card: proof that they will continue to be very customer-oriented and well-managed. We rolled out of there, happily, wishing we had a longer walk home to digest it all, but really pleased that this is now our nearest excellent restaurant.

Gold Lee - Gold Service by Litro_K

Litro_K — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:34:13 +0000

Review by Litro_K

Rating: 5.00

Phone: 020 7732 1247

Tags: chinese, cheap eat, cool

I couldn't agree more with the other reviewer, Karen. Gold Lee is consistently excellent in terms of service and the quality of their food always surprises me for the price. The staff are warm, welcoming and they even remember you if you visit often.

When dining in, I've seen the place both quiet and slightly empty on weekdays, as well as energised and full of larger parties celebrating special occasions on Friday and Saturday nights.

No matter how busy they get, their service remains flawless. If you decide not to eat in, they do local deliveries, give a 10% discount if you collect the food yourself, and free prawn crackers without fail. How very splendid.

My Chinese work colleague is jealous that I have such a great takeaway so nearby. I think that says it all!I couldn't agree more with the other reviewer, Karen. Gold Lee is consistently excellent in terms of service and the quality of their food always surprises me for the price. The staff are warm, welcoming and they even remember you if you visit often.

When dining in, I've seen the place both quiet and slightly empty on weekdays, as well as energised and full of larger parties celebrating special occasions on Friday and Saturday nights.

No matter how busy they get, their service remains flawless. If you decide not to eat in, they do local deliveries, give a 10% discount if you collect the food yourself, and free prawn crackers without fail. How very splendid.

My Chinese work colleague is jealous that I have such a great takeaway so nearby. I think that says it all!

Hisar Restaurant - Can't go wrong! by benjaminty

benjaminty — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:28:31 +0000

Review by benjaminty

Rating: 4.00

Phone: 020 8299 2948

Tags: turkish, cheap eat, good value

Oh my god ... where do I start?

This place is fantastic value for money, terrific quality meat and cooked very very well.

This place is busy every night of the week .. a testament surely.

May I recommend the Beyti with rice. mmmmmmm Oh my god ... where do I start?

This place is fantastic value for money, terrific quality meat and cooked very very well.

This place is busy every night of the week .. a testament surely.

May I recommend the Beyti with rice. mmmmmmm

Chopsticks - Not bad, but better can be found in East Dulwich by Litro_K

Litro_K — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:17:49 +0000

Review by Litro_K

Rating: 3.00

Phone: 020 8693 2318

Tags: chinese, oriental, cheap eat

Chopsticks used to be the only Chinese (actually they're more like Chinese/ Japanese fusion) takeaway we used in this area, with mixed results. Some days the food would arrive promptly, and we would have ordered well, but the taste and quality of the dishes would vary wildly, as would the time it took the food to arrive.

The soups are not worth having - colourless, flavourless watery things. Singapore noodles are good, as are the chicken and prawn dishes.

When eating in, we've never found the service to be a problem, they seem friendly and willing to help. The decor and ambience is cool and it looks inviting from the outside. Having said that, you can find much better places for Chinese food in this area - just try Gold Lee on East Dulwich Road, for example.Chopsticks used to be the only Chinese (actually they're more like Chinese/ Japanese fusion) takeaway we used in this area, with mixed results. Some days the food would arrive promptly, and we would have ordered well, but the taste and quality of the dishes would vary wildly, as would the time it took the food to arrive.

The soups are not worth having - colourless, flavourless watery things. Singapore noodles are good, as are the chicken and prawn dishes.

When eating in, we've never found the service to be a problem, they seem friendly and willing to help. The decor and ambience is cool and it looks inviting from the outside. Having said that, you can find much better places for Chinese food in this area - just try Gold Lee on East Dulwich Road, for example.

Sema Thai - There's better Thai food to be had in East Dulwich by Litro_K

Litro_K — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:03:27 +0000

Review by Litro_K

Rating: 3.00

Phone: 020 8693 3213

Tags: thai

I was excited by the opening of this new restaurant on Lordship Lane, but after two visits now, I have to say I haven't been overwhelmed by the food or the service. There is one really smiley, sweet waiter who is very efficient, but otherwise there is nothing remarkable about this restaurant other than their impressive fishtank.

It's passable, sure, and the food is good... just not great. After a sizeable wait, of about 25 minutes, you expect excellence. Our Tom Yum soup was acidic and not fiery enough, the Pad Thai somewhat anaemic, and Pad See Eaw distinctly lacking in variety of ingredients. However, starters tend to be very good, even if a bit deep-fried, and my pork and prawn dumplings were very tasty.

Thai Corner Cafe, around the corner on North Cross Road, defintiely has the edge over Sema Thai. It's still a good option, though, and if you're on Lordship Lane and feeling peckish, you could do much worse.

I was excited by the opening of this new restaurant on Lordship Lane, but after two visits now, I have to say I haven't been overwhelmed by the food or the service. There is one really smiley, sweet waiter who is very efficient, but otherwise there is nothing remarkable about this restaurant other than their impressive fishtank.

It's passable, sure, and the food is good... just not great. After a sizeable wait, of about 25 minutes, you expect excellence. Our Tom Yum soup was acidic and not fiery enough, the Pad Thai somewhat anaemic, and Pad See Eaw distinctly lacking in variety of ingredients. However, starters tend to be very good, even if a bit deep-fried, and my pork and prawn dumplings were very tasty.

Thai Corner Cafe, around the corner on North Cross Road, defintiely has the edge over Sema Thai. It's still a good option, though, and if you're on Lordship Lane and feeling peckish, you could do much worse.

Surma Curry House - God Awful by RichardKenney

RichardKenney — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 01:03:04 +0000

Review by RichardKenney

Rating: 1.00

Tags: indian

Do yourself a favour and go to Tandoori Nights up the road. The staff are really friendly and actually (shock horror) appear to be appreciative of your custom. The food is better too.

We thought we'd try Surma for a change. As they were carrying out alterations at the rear, the walls had been stripped of paper, and when we found the plaster to have covered my girlfriend's coat, we informed them about it. Their response was rude, uncaring, and dismissive.

I didn't leave a tip as I hastily removed myself.

Tandoori Nights all the way.Do yourself a favour and go to Tandoori Nights up the road. The staff are really friendly and actually (shock horror) appear to be appreciative of your custom. The food is better too.

We thought we'd try Surma for a change. As they were carrying out alterations at the rear, the walls had been stripped of paper, and when we found the plaster to have covered my girlfriend's coat, we informed them about it. Their response was rude, uncaring, and dismissive.

I didn't leave a tip as I hastily removed myself.

Tandoori Nights all the way.

The Palmerston - another gastropub by lenalouise

lenalouise — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:45:06 +0000

Review by lenalouise

Rating: 3.00

Phone: 020 8693 1629

Website: http://www.thepalmerston.net

Tags: french, friendly staff, expensive

I was quite excited about coming here, I've been past this place a few times and it looked interesting. I think it's won some awards in the past so I was intrigued.

Inside, there were wooden panels along the walls along with dim lighting and sort of has the feel of a private library in a big house. There are the usual wooden tables and chairs that you expect in gastropubs with some leather seats in some parts.

They have a great selection of spirits, wine and lager/ales. The service would be excellent if only they had more staff. We ended up waiting 20-30 mins for each course and they were slow to clear up plates. It wasn't actually much of a problem for us because we wanted to relax and have a long meal but it's not ideal.

We had starters of smoked haddock and sweetcorn chowder with poached egg and bone marrow and parsley salad with toast. The chowder was tasty. They'd blended the soup so it was more smooth than the tradional chunky chowder but fantastic nonetheless. My bone marrow was very fiddly as expected but wasn't as good as I imagined, it didn't taste of much. It's obviously a St John copy but according to my friend, it wasn't as nice as their version.

For mains, I had escalope of veal with a white wine, cream, mustard and tarragon sauce with wild mushrooms and my friend had rump of lamb with french beans, anchovies, something else that I can't remember and rosemary jus. My veal was slightly overcooked, it was perfect for the first few minutes but because it carried on cooking, it ended up being quite tough. The sauce was not reduced enough and so was a bit bland and watery and I didn't get much wild mushrooms. The rump of lamb was cooked perfectly but not sure about the anchovies in this dish! It made it a bit too salty for my taste. The jus was decent though.

For dessert, we shared a fig tarte tatin with honey ice cream. The caramel was cooked more than I prefer and had a very slight bitter taste but I can see why some people might prefer it like that. The honey ice cream was nice on its own, quite subtle but we couldn't really taste the flavour with the fig tart aswell because the sweetness of the tart overpowered it.

Overall, it's a very nice pub and would love to live nearer for it to be a local (for drinks) but the food is not quite there though it has the right idea. The meal cost about Â£60 with soft drinks which is expensive for us I suppose. I actually don't think I'll find a gastropub that I'll love after knowing about Anchor & Hope and Great Queen St because the benchmark is so high now :D Too bad

I was quite excited about coming here, I've been past this place a few times and it looked interesting. I think it's won some awards in the past so I was intrigued.

Inside, there were wooden panels along the walls along with dim lighting and sort of has the feel of a private library in a big house. There are the usual wooden tables and chairs that you expect in gastropubs with some leather seats in some parts.

They have a great selection of spirits, wine and lager/ales. The service would be excellent if only they had more staff. We ended up waiting 20-30 mins for each course and they were slow to clear up plates. It wasn't actually much of a problem for us because we wanted to relax and have a long meal but it's not ideal.

We had starters of smoked haddock and sweetcorn chowder with poached egg and bone marrow and parsley salad with toast. The chowder was tasty. They'd blended the soup so it was more smooth than the tradional chunky chowder but fantastic nonetheless. My bone marrow was very fiddly as expected but wasn't as good as I imagined, it didn't taste of much. It's obviously a St John copy but according to my friend, it wasn't as nice as their version.

For mains, I had escalope of veal with a white wine, cream, mustard and tarragon sauce with wild mushrooms and my friend had rump of lamb with french beans, anchovies, something else that I can't remember and rosemary jus. My veal was slightly overcooked, it was perfect for the first few minutes but because it carried on cooking, it ended up being quite tough. The sauce was not reduced enough and so was a bit bland and watery and I didn't get much wild mushrooms. The rump of lamb was cooked perfectly but not sure about the anchovies in this dish! It made it a bit too salty for my taste. The jus was decent though.

For dessert, we shared a fig tarte tatin with honey ice cream. The caramel was cooked more than I prefer and had a very slight bitter taste but I can see why some people might prefer it like that. The honey ice cream was nice on its own, quite subtle but we couldn't really taste the flavour with the fig tart aswell because the sweetness of the tart overpowered it.

Overall, it's a very nice pub and would love to live nearer for it to be a local (for drinks) but the food is not quite there though it has the right idea. The meal cost about Â£60 with soft drinks which is expensive for us I suppose. I actually don't think I'll find a gastropub that I'll love after knowing about Anchor & Hope and Great Queen St because the benchmark is so high now :D Too bad

Tandoori Nights Of Dulwich - by nacho

nacho — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 13:07:32 +0000

Review by nacho

Rating: 3.00

Phone: 020 82994077

Tags: indian, good value, crowded

Never 5 stars but nice and good value.Never 5 stars but nice and good value.

Springers Wine Bar - Great Food by flojo

flojo — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 11:01:06 +0000

Review by flojo

Rating: 4.00

Phone: 020 8693 3549

Tags: relaxed, friendly, romantic

Have been here a few times. You are always guaranteed a warm welcome from the owners Bryan and Jackie, and the food and atmosphere doesn't disappoint either!

I was here to celebrate a cousin's 21st party therefore we had half of the enclosed court-yard area at the rear of the restaurant.

Had asparagus with a very light blue-cheesy dressing, followed by one of the best steaks I have had in ages, sirloin with au poivre sauce on the side and french fries - perfect!

We all ended up with a special fresh fruit gateau.

Well recommended.Have been here a few times. You are always guaranteed a warm welcome from the owners Bryan and Jackie, and the food and atmosphere doesn't disappoint either!

I was here to celebrate a cousin's 21st party therefore we had half of the enclosed court-yard area at the rear of the restaurant.

Had asparagus with a very light blue-cheesy dressing, followed by one of the best steaks I have had in ages, sirloin with au poivre sauce on the side and french fries - perfect!

We all ended up with a special fresh fruit gateau.

Well recommended.